Taking the Obama out of Christmas?

I don’t normally get into generalized right-wing opposition to Barack Obama, but this one was literally staring me in the face through the window of the restaurant were Ms. Conspiracy and I lunched today.

“LC” are the initials for the Liberty Counsel (the 501(c)(3) non-profit organization’s founder and chairman Mat Staver is an attorney), and their main holiday theme is an attempt to keep Christmas commercialized. They publish a “Naughty and Nice List” of businesses that mention “Christmas” in their advertising and on their web sites (nice) and those that don’t (naughty). It is no surprise that the Naughty bit is rather short. The Grinch is played by the ACLU.

I didn’t see any reference to the billboard on the LC site, but it has a few references to “revolution” such as this example:

Looking back on the birth of this nation, it is clear that the Great Awakening gave birth to the American Revolution. Spiritual renewal provided the foundation for the birth of liberty in the civil body politic. The sermons of pastors were literally the fuel for the American Revolution.

I believe the same can be true today. For many months, I have been praying and seeking counsel from pastors, ministry leaders, and lay leaders. In the future, I will be sharing more details about a number of new strategic initiatives we are considering.

The actual connection between the (first) Great Awakening and the American Revolution seems somewhat tenuous given the time difference, but there is a bit on this in the Wikipedia article, and some book references.

26 Responses to Taking the Obama out of Christmas?

I pity people who are apparently so weak in their faith that they desperately need the approval or support of strangers (companies, sales clerks, waiters, etc.), in the form of being told “Merry Christmas” versus hearing anything else.

I have scorn for those who seek to shake down companies in God’s name.

I have no publishable words for those who seek to profit from those weak souls.

The consensus among serious historians is that the Enlightenment had a much greater influence upon the Founders. With the notable exceptions of Samuel Adams and Patrick Henry, it is difficult to find any prominent Founders who were significantly influenced by the Great Awakening.

anyone else read this as a dog-whistle call for “The Birth of a Nation”?

Actually I read it as a not very subtle call to revolution. FALCON and the kiddies at Birther Report are slobbering all over their keyboards:

“An armed march to arrest Soetoro is all that remains.” FALCON

“It will take a revolution. We must remove the usurper and every enabler currently in office for treason against the country!. A Ceausescu ending is in order. It is the only way to save the country from communism.” Louis Gamber

BatGuano: anyone else read this as a dog-whistle call for “The Birth of a Nation”?

Maybe a few. But probably not many, and certainly not me.

Yes, there are some racists (including some overt flaming KKK-grade bigots) among the birthers. But I’ve seen enough vicious tribalism among the neandercons directed against Clinton, Carter, etc to conclude we’d be getting at least 70-80% of the same sort of nonsense if we’d elected a white male with the same politics. There’s a lot more xenophobia than racism driving the RWNJs, and any “lib” is “xeno” enough to arouse their phobia.

“There are certain laws which judges, legislators, and even the people cannot change. They are called natural laws. The Declaration of Independence refers to these laws as the ‘laws of nature and of nature’s God.’ These natural laws transcend time, cultures, and political institutions. Sir William Blackstone said any earthly law which is contrary to the natural law is no law at all. This view of law has shaped Western law and government for over 2,000 years. St. Augustine and Martin Luther King, Jr. shared this view of law. If there is a Creator God, then there must be a higher law which cannot be transgressed. We easily accept this view when it comes to the laws of physics such as the law of gravity. But the same is true of certain moral laws, among which include the sanctity of human life, marriage between a man and a woman, and religious freedom. When judges, legislators, or the people have the hubris to deceive themselves into thinking they can violate these laws without consequences, they are blind to history and the Scriptures. Deconstructing marriage will be the end of freedom or the beginning of a new revolution,”

Whenever I hear that arrant nonsense about “natural laws” I “reach for my revolver”….

The only natural laws/rights are you get born, you live you die, all else are cultural constructs.

Is it “natural law” to only wed your siblings (Phaoronic law)
Is it “natural law” to sacrifice living animals to placate various gods (multiple cultures globally)
Is it “natural law” to decide civil disputes via trial by combat
Is it “natural law” to rape, pillage and kidnap women to increase your populace (se Vattel).

Bovril: Whenever I hear that arrant nonsense about “natural laws” I “reach for my revolver”….

Laurence H. Tribe wrote this in an opinion piece way back in 1991:

“Clarence Thomas, judging from his speeches and scholarly writings, seems instead to believe judges should enforce the Founders’ natural law philosophy — the inalienable rights ‘given man by his Creator’ — which he maintains is revealed most completely in the Declaration of Independence. He is the first Supreme Court nominee in 50 years to maintain that natural law should be readily consulted in constitutional interpretation.

“When a child born today reaches voting age, Judge Thomas will be 61, still five years younger than Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist is now. By then, the nation will face many new issues — new reproductive technologies, computer privacy, genetic engineering.”

New issues, indeed! That child would reach voting age in the year 2009, when the first African-American would be sworn in as President of the United States, and those natural-law-lovin’ people we call birthers would get their first real taste of bitter defeat – a flavor with which they have become quite familiar.

When I see CCP (without the additional “C”) I think of “Soviet Socialist Republic” which is part of the name of each of the republics in the union that was the Soviet Union. One could add “County” to “Cold Case Posse” to get a legitimate CCCP acronym, although I guess MCSCCP would be more consistent (the official name is the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Cold Case Posse).

One notes that while the Soviet Union was able to send a rocket to the moon, all the trial balloons sent up by the Cold Case Posse have fallen flat.

Dr. Conspiracy: One could add “County” to “Cold Case Posse” to get a legitimate CCCP acronym, although I guess MCSCCP would be more consistent (the official name is the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Cold Case Posse).

One of the members of the cast is Jerry Falwell’s granddaughter, Jessica Falwell. Just in case anyone was wondering.

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